


you’ll come back when they call you

by klainelynch



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Background Character Death, Canon Compliant, Gen, Gen Work, Grief/Mourning, I started this as an exploration of losing someone while loving the person in front of you, Kataang (background), NaNoWriMo fic, Pre-Canon, Waterbending & Waterbenders, but then my teacher brain took over in chapter 2, it's not that dark but the sadness is there, young!Korra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:20:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22136194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klainelynch/pseuds/klainelynch
Summary: In training Avatar Korra and other young waterbenders of the Southern Water Tribe, Katara has to reckon with her grief over losing Aang.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

The South Pole wasn’t the only place in the world that got cold. Even the beaches of the Fire Nation could be chilly when the sun set. Yet there was something about a place that had no true earth for miles that just magnified every sense. A light breeze became a dagger; a shadow could knock the breath right out of you. But that was what Katara had always enjoyed. Even in the years of Republic City, she still missed the complaining-about-freezing-while-bundled-up. It was a way of life that couldn’t be explained, only lived.

Now she was living it, alone. Not _alone_ alone, but without Aang. These six years without him had been harder than she could have ever imagined. She had the rest of her family and friends, but it wasn’t the same. She had no idea how her father had done this for so many years. She had had Aang for decades, and it still hadn’t been enough.

Finding out about Korra had helped. And hurt. It was beautiful to see this young girl pick up different types of bending so quickly, to see her full of life and energy. It reminded Katara that Aang was dead. If Aang were alive, Korra wouldn’t be. Katara felt horrific shame and guilt over that thought, and she never breathed a word of it to anyone, but it was there, all the same. The feelings were only exacerbated every time she trained Korra because she genuinely cared for the girl. There was so much heart in her. 

Katara had been worried that the girl’s talent would inflate her ego and make her an impossible student, but Korra was always just eager to learn more, to show what she could do, to take her place in the world. Katara was thankful that her parents allowed Korra to be trained in a class rather than by herself. The four other children had to come inside the Southern Water Tribe compound since Korra could not leave its protection, but the presence of other learners strengthened each new pupil in ways that private lessons simply could not. It wasn’t always easy to reign in Korra’s talent and help her to see that it was possible to be both a good teacher and a kind friend, but she was only six, after all. Those lessons could come later. But the pout Korra gave every time was the exact one that Aang gave when he wanted to show off. 

She hadn’t known that would be something she could miss. That face came out when he had a joke that only he found funny, and knew that everyone would groan when they heard it, but he told it anyway. It came out when he showed off silly airbending tricks to young kids who hadn’t seen them a thousand times. It was far from the thing she loved most about Aang, but right now, it was the face she most wanted to see. 

She would have given anything to see Aang one more time, and yet she loved Korra like one of her own children.

_I wish I could have them both._


	2. Chapter 2

At first, they had practiced in the evenings to let the moon’s effects help the young waterbenders, but now, Katara had asked her class to see her in the afternoons so they could show their stuff under a bright sun. Most of the students had struggled in the daylight, but their confidence was growing. They had been reviewing their push-and-pulls and water waves for days. Now it was time to introduce a new lesson in a difficult setting. Katara took a deep breath in and slowly released it, exaggerating her motions to remind her students of the techniques they would need to find success. She raised both hands and pulled a stream of water out of the pond. The water floated and separated until each person had a bubble above their head.

“Pull the water to you, but don’t allow it to touch you,” she said. “When you’ve done that, push it back up, and then repeat nine more times.” As her students started their warmup, she walked around as usual. Nini had finally mastered this skill, and her smile was infectious. Gilak was still struggling with staying focused—he would start off strong, but get lulled into complacency and allow the water to dip too low. Katara was about to point this out to him, but Korra jumped in before she could.

“Pay attention, Gilak!” she snapped. “I don’t want to get splashed again.”

His cheeks reddened and he refocused. His technique was now perfect, but Katara glared at Korra. It wasn’t the stare of someone who was personally offended; it was the stare of a teacher who wanted to make sure her student knew how to be a good person before she knew how to be a good waterbender.

“Korra, you are not the teacher, and you are not to speak to another student so rudely. Now, apologize to Gilak,” she said.

Now it was Korra’s turn for blushing. She murmured an apology and kept her eyes on the ground for the rest of the warmups. Korra’s “teaching outbursts” had been growing less frequent, but they still happened. Was Aang this way? Did Monk Gyatso have to train him not to correct every little mistake of his classmates? Katara struggled to picture him being so forceful as a child, but she knew children often grew out of bad habits. Her brother’s sexism was a perfect example of that.

“Now,” Katara said as she took her place in front of the class, “drop your water to the ground and watch as I take mine through the different states.” She flicked her fingers apart and heard the small gasp as the children watched the liquid burst into steam before she tightened her fist and let the icicles scatter around her. It wasn’t particularly difficult to change water’s state on accident, but to do it on purpose? Katara knew her students would struggle, and tried to scaffold their learning.

“Don’t think about the entire move right now. Just follow the hand movements with me.” She led them in opening and closing their fingers for a minute before she let them practice the closing of the fist. Once she was satisfied each student could physically make the move, she bent more water in front of each one and instructed them to simply make water vapor on command.

The twins, Arnaq and Kallik, were the first to get it. As usual, Katara allowed her quick learners to guide her other pupils. She had found that students were often able to help each other more effectively than a teacher when it came to the basics because it had been so long since she had had to think these moves through. New learners saw the world differently. Katara was so caught up in her pride over the twins that she didn’t realize that Korra still hadn’t gotten the technique—or rather, didn’t seem to be trying. She was moving her hands correctly, but Katara could tell from the way she held her shoulders that she wasn’t actually attempting to manipulate the water. Catching her eye, Katara mouthed _It’s okay_ , and Korra immediately turned the water to steam. 

The group helped the last student, Nini, and moved onto the next step. This time, Katara kept a closer eye on Korra, and noticed that she was again holding herself back. While the other students struggled to turn the misty air into solid water, Korra quietly offered advice to Gilak. He stuck out his tongue to her and moved away, but he seemed to have been listening. His wrist movements sharpened, the water fell in a beautiful cascade of ice, and his eyes lit up. Immediately, he also started helping his peers, not realizing that Korra had helped him without making ice herself. The Avatar kept her gaze down so that she never had to look at Katara, and as soon as Nini had made ice, Korra’s magically appeared.

For the rest of the lesson, Katara allowed them to move the water between the states at their own pace. As the sun began to dip in the sky, their power grew until each could do it without even thinking about it. Arnaq, Kallik, Nini, and Gilak bowed to Katara and ran home, giddy to show their parents what each had learned that day. Katara accompanied Korra home as usual. The members of the Red Lotus had been locked up for over a year by now, but no one was taking any chances, even inside this secure compound.

Normally, Korra spent the entire walk showing off her skills and asking Katara if she could watch her “Avatar moves” again. Today, however, she kept her hands in her pockets and stayed behind Katara, who wasn’t able to walk as quickly as she once did and yet seemed to running compared to Korra. Katara paused held out her hand to Korra, who took it but didn’t look up.

“Your form looked excellent today, Korra,” she said. The Avatar mumbled a thank you but didn’t say anything else. Katara tried again. “I think you’ve got a good grasp on how small hand movements can make a big impact on an entire move. That’s something I didn’t even realize until I was, oh, must have been fourteen or so!” She smiled down at Korra, but stopped them both when she saw her face.

“Korra, is everything alright?”

She sniffed, and Katara immediately felt guilty that she hadn’t even realized how close to tears the young girl was. “I’m sorry for being mean to Gilak, I didn’t mean it at all!”

Katara reached down for Korra’s other hand and bent to her level. “I know you’re sorry, and you already gave a good apology. Is there something else bothering you?”

Now she really did burst into tears. As she cried and talked all at once, Korra explained that the other kids didn’t like it when they needed her help because she was such a know-it-all, and she should just train by herself if they didn’t want her there, and she didn’t have any friends anyway except for Naga, and Nini had said polar bear dogs can’t be friends anyway.

Ah. This, she knew something about. Well, not her personally, but she knew exactly what to say.

“Did you know that Aang went through exactly the same thing?”

“Really?” Korra asked. Her eyes were wide like she could barely understand what she was hearing. “But I thought everyone loved Avatar Aang!”

Katara chuckled. “That’s one of the hard things in life, sweetie. No one can be loved by everyone. There are going to be some people in life that you just don’t get along with, and that’s okay. As long as you’re not mean to them, it’s ok to be polite to someone without being their friend.”

“Did Aang try and tell his friends what to do too?”

“You know, I’m not sure if he did or not. But I know his friends didn’t want to play any games with him after they learned he was the Avatar because they thought it would be unfair. It really hurt his feelings.”

“What!” Korra shouted, and in her outrage, didn’t seem to realize that Katara had resumed guiding her home. “That’s not fair at all! At least Nini and everyone let me play with them when you give us game time.”

“Yes, they do, and I know you enjoy each other’s friendship,” Katara said. “Korra, you have a different life than your classmates, being the Avatar. Sometimes that means you have to be a little different than others, and that’s ok. I’m here to help you with that, and so is your mom and your dad. There will be things that they won’t understand, but there are a lot of things that you can share with them. It’s wonderful that you are such a fast learner, and I love that you want to help others. But the next time you see an opportunity like today, I want you to think about Aang, and what kind of friend you want to be, ok?”

Korra nodded and threw herself at Katara for a hug. “Thank you, Katara! I promise, I will!” she said. “Can I show my Mom and Dad what I learned today?”

Katara smiled and sent Korra on her way. As the young Avatar ran off, Katara felt the warming rays of the sunset on her cheeks. It was hard being without Aang, yes. But the good days were finally outnumbering the bad ones. A cold wind roused her hair, but it only served to highlight how good the sun’s rays felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote a shortened version of this chapter during NaNoWriMo, but as I typed it up, my teacher brain took over and it went in a very different direction. I hope you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it.  
> Comments are always appreciated :)
> 
> Find me on tumblr at [klainelynch](https://klainelynch.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> I hope it's clear that Katara doesn't hate or bear any kind of grudge against Korra. The universe has put Katara in a complicated position, and I wanted to explore that a bit. If someone wants to dig deeper into this idea, I'd love to read it.  
> Comments are always appreciated :)
> 
> Find me on tumblr at [klainelynch](https://klainelynch.tumblr.com/)


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